Gaza (Union)
The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, confirmed yesterday that Israel’s allegations of the agency’s employees’ involvement in the October 7 attack made the UN staff “legitimate targets.”
Lazzarini said: “The ongoing war in Gaza has resulted in a blatant disregard for the mission of the United Nations, including attacks on its employees that led to the death and injury of hundreds of them,” considering that the size and scope of the recent attacks against UNRWA employees deserve the urgent formation of an independent investigation committee.
Yesterday, the Israeli Knesset approved, in a preliminary reading, a draft law abolishing the immunity and privileges of UNRWA for the year 2024.
The Knesset explained that the draft law stipulates that the regulations of the United Nations Immunity and Privileges Decree of 1947 do not apply to UNRWA, nor to its employees, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs must cancel the legal order that provides this immunity.
In this context, Israel asked UNRWA yesterday to vacate its main headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem within a month due to the use of the land without the approval of the Israel Lands Department.
Yesterday, the Israeli news outlet Ynet said: “The agency was given 30 days to vacate the building, and the Land Authority demanded $7.2 million in late rent, in addition to paying annual user fees until the actual use stops.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations announced yesterday that the amount of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip has decreased by two-thirds since Israel began its military operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip this month.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said: “The amount of food and other aid entering Gaza, which was already insufficient to meet growing needs, has decreased further since May 7.”
He stated that since the seventh of May until last Tuesday, the average of trucks arriving in Gaza was 58 trucks per day, compared to a daily average of 176 aid trucks during the period from the first of April to the sixth of May, which represents a decrease of 67%, explaining that this number Excludes private sector goods and fuel.
The United Nations also warned of the serious health effects of the waste crisis on the residents of the Strip, and its serious impact on the pollution of agricultural soil and groundwater, especially with rising temperatures.
The United Nations announced that the increasing piles of garbage in Gaza mean that families are fleeing to areas where there are no acceptable living conditions.
UNRWA said, via the “X” website: “There is a pile of garbage everywhere.” It also showed pictures of garbage in Deir al-Balah on the Mediterranean coast.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said late last night that about one million refugees from the city of Rafah are living in miserable health conditions.
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